Morning Headlines | Rescue efforts continue following landslides, politicians descend on Rātana and Trump and Zelensky have a 'good' talk. | Friday, January 23, 2026Beaches on Auckland’s North Shore and in central parts of the city are not safe to swim in because of wastewater and more beaches could be impacted over the long weekend. The Auckland Council’s Safeswim tool has advised locals to not swim at least 15 beaches after wastewater overflow was detected. Colour-coded flags on the tool show black “do not swim” flags concentrated around the North Shore and Central Auckland, while red flags advising against swimming are scattered throughout. This comes a week after most Auckland and outer gulf beaches were deemed unsafe for swimming due to heavy rain triggering wastewater overflow throughout the region.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 23, 2026 08:33 UTC